BUCKWHEAT HILL FARM - Key Persons

Morgan Wade bought the 218 acres that make up Buckwheat Hill Farm in 2006. Buckwheat Hill gets its name from its previous owner, Marion. Marion and her extended family owned the property for about 40 years. They farmed the land, primarily for potatoes. And the winter cover crop was, as you might suspect, buckwheat. So Marion called the property Buckwheat Hill. Over the years, her brother George Carr built many outbuildings on the property, including a sugar shack. He started making maple sugar on the property in about 1969. After the Wades brought the property, George, about 80 at the time, continued to sugar in his sugar shack, tapping about 500 trees. After making some updates to the farmhouse (like electricity), Dan and Morgan Wade moved to the property full-time and started wondering how to make a living in this remote corner of Vermont. Of course, maple syrup came to mind. First, they thought to count the trees to see if it was a viable option. Have you ever tried to count trees in a forest? Easier than counting stars, but still rather awkward. They made up tags with metal ties and numbered them. After a day in the woods, they realized that was not the most fruitful method. They got a small counter - much more realistic. After confirming that the number of sugar maples made a sugaring operation a realistic enterprise, they set about making it happen.